Starting Off With a Bang!

4th of July Weekend 2009 has officially begun! MorMor, MorFar, and Sadie arrived this afternoon. This is a tradition. Swimming and poolside drinks and playing in the yard are already underway. The cousins are having some serious summertime fun. Dinner tonight was king crab legs, the first pesto pasta of the summer (first basil harvest of the season from our basil plants), and a scrumptious salad with blueberries and goat cheese fresh from yesterday's Farmer's Market. And we've even already had a small display of some "test" fireworks by MorFar. We're starting off with a bang! I won't blog again until the festivities are over... which will be sometime early next week. Happy 4th of July everybody!!!!!!!

Robin's Nest

There is a nice tree that sits just 6 or 8 feet from the front of our house. The boys love to climb in the tree and have been doing so since they were three years old. They call it "The Giving Tree" (named after the tree in the book, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein). At this point they can confidently climb through all the branches-- even the highest ones. Given how often they are in the tree I was amazed to discover that a robin had made her nest there this spring. I often saw her coming and going from the nest while the boys played all around it. We were even more amazed to just recently realize that baby birds are now alive in the nest. The mama robin comes and goes to feed her babies. At one point when she was out to find food, Kyle and Owen were able to climb high into the tree and peer into the nest. We hadn't known how many baby birds there were. The boys were delighted to find that there were two. "Twins!" I was so curious myself that I managed to climb up into the tree with the boys and my camera to get a photo of what was tucked inside the nest (click photos to enlarge). Meanwhile, Meera just looked on from the yard by the tree, content as usual.

K & O Choice Quotes from Recent Days

Overheard the other day, both boys outside on the deck, me inside the kitchen-- Owen, to Kyle: "Kyle, we're on something right now you know! We're really on something!!! Right now!!! We're actually on a real planet!!!!!"

*

A couple days ago Kyle said to me, matter of factly, "Space is pretty far. But outer space is farther."

*

The other night during dinner Braydon and I were talking about one of my students. This student comes from a very disadvantaged background. In the course of the conversation I said something along the lines of, "He's just had such a tough life." Later during dinner, out of the blue, Kyle, deep in thought, says out loud, "I don't have a tough life." And then he turned to me and Braydon, "Because I'm with you!"

*

A few days ago Owen was playing with Meera. She's not 100% stable standing and sometimes still falls over for no real apparent reason. She toppled over and Owen lifted her back up to a standing position. He then turned and said to me, truly relieved, "That was a close call!-- but look!-- she's still alive!!!"
A few days ago, in the car, alone with the three kids, listening to Dixie Chicks (by special request from Owen)... Kyle, Owen, and I were all singing along to the song (Meera bobbing her head in her carseat)... Kyle: "Come on Mommy!!! Show me what you've got!!!!!!!"

*

K & O were riding bikes outside while I was cleaning up in the kitchen. They came in for what was, from all outside appearances, a potty break. They were both in the bathroom for a while. I heard them talking, but didn't pay attention to what they were saying. I heard a flush. But instead of heading right back out to play as they usually do, instead they both came to me in the kitchen (which was my first indicator that something was up). Holding hands (which was my second indicator that something was up), they both looked straight up at me~~
Kyle: Mom, we need to tell you something.
Heather: Ok?
Owen: I just flushed a worm down the toilet.
H: Really?
(both nodding)
H: Kyle, is it true? Did your brother flush a worm down the toilet?
K: Yes, he did that.
H: Ok, thank you for telling me. But, do not do that again.
O: Ok. But that was my second time.
H: Really? When was the first time?
O: Well, it is a long story.
H: Ok, tell me.
O: Well, it was when it was raining. And there were lots of worms. And I had one. And I lied to my Papi.
H: Ok?
O: I was holding the worm in my hand. And I told my Papi I wouldn't bring it inside. But I did bring it inside.
H: Ok?
O: And I kept him inside. And then he almost died. And then I flushed him down the toilet so my Papi wouldn't find out about it.
H: Ok, thank you for telling me. But, do not do that again.
O: Ok, I won't.

*

Kyle has recently been semi-obsessed with the sequence of schooling and the years of educational trajectories. He knows that kids move from one grade to the next each year, that after 12th grade is "college," that both Braydon and I went to "graduate school" after college, etc. The other day he announced, "I am definitely going to go to graduate school after college. It is going to be graduate school for baseball playing. It is going to be a graduate school with a really good baseball field."
Owen, in a moment of deep thought: "Mommy, I think I know why I act up at bedtime." "Oh," I said, "why?" "O.k.," says Owen, "this is the first part. There are many chapters. Chapter one is that I don't want the day to end. Chapter two is that I don't like going to bed. The third chapter is that I just want to stay down here watching Mommy and Papi clean up. The fourth chapter is that I want to play outside in the dark. The fifth chapter is that I really don't like going to bed. And the last chapter is that I don't like it when the day ends because I only like it when it starts all again in the morning."

*

Another day I went to check on the boys during their 'Rest Hour.' When I went into Owen's room I found him sitting calmly in his rocking chair in deep, pensive thought. When he saw me he looked up and said, "Mommy, I've been thinking! I thought of something nice to do for you! It is to just behave!"

*

One night at bedtime-- Kyle: "Mommy, did you know that before I was born, when I was in heaven, I was thinking about you?" "No," I said, "I didn't know that. What were you thinking about?" "I was wishing that you would be my mommy. I was wishing my mommy would have your color skin and your color eyes and be named Heather."

*

I've noticed that the boys have just recently begun using "white" and "black" to name the racial groups. Previously they never did this (they always used "your color" as their words for the skin color of Braydon and I, and "brown" for people with skin like them). But that is now changing. They will now sometimes announce, for example, "She's black, like us!" (Owen said this in Carrabbas restaurant a few weeks ago, very loudly, right in front of our server who happened to be black.) The other day when we were out in the yard Kyle said, "Mom I just saw a butterfly! It was your color and Meera's color! It was white!"

*

A week or so ago we were talking about 'favorites' and the boys were listing their favorites in various categories (clothes, books, etc.). I said, "What's your favorite fruit?" Owen said, "Carrabbas pasta." I said, "That's not a fruit!" He said, "Yeah, I know, but I couldn't decide between pomegranates and peaches so I said Carrabbas pasta."
The other night I called the boys to the table for dinner. When Owen approached the table he saw that we were having fish, rice, carrots, and broccoli (many 5 year old boys worst nightmare). With complete and utter genuine sincerity and enthusiasm, he jumped into his chair and exclaimed, "THIS IS THE BEST SUPPER I EVER SAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*

The boys are, and have always been, very aware of all sorts of different kinds of families. They have friends with two moms, they have friends with two dads, etc., etc., etc. They have been known to fight with kids at school defending gay marriage rights, etc., etc., etc. Owen has often expressed his wish that he had "two dads." (Interestingly, we don't even call Braydon 'dad' we call him 'papi.') Anyway, the other night at bedtime-- Owen: "Mommy, I really wish I had two dads. I wish you could be a dad with my dad. That would mean you wouldn't have breasts, but that's o.k., because I really want two dads. I do like you though. You're beautiful. I just wish you were a dad."

*

Owen, the other day, after one of his frequent comedic getting-dressed episodes, delightfully appears downstairs and proclaims with enthusiasm, "Look! I have on five shirts!! And no underpants!!!"

*

Owen, one morning while he was watching me getting dressed: "Mommy, why do you always wear underpants on your breasts?"

Sunday Late Afternoon

F-S Family Visits for a Double Twin Weekend

All I keep thinking is, "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." If truth be told I do think some of my newer-found friends are pure gold. But it is also true, for sure, that old friends are something in their own league. There's just nothing like it. Ben and I go way back to the start of grad school. Together we've been through coursework and research assistantships and dissertations and job markets and tenure track jobs and tenure and now the-good-life-post-tenure (and all that goes with it). And along the way we've also been through "real life" too -- dating and engagements and weddings and marriage and babies (and all that goes with it). Amazingly, we find that here we both are with twins. So now we have that in common too. It is special to have twin family friends... especially ones you were friends with even pre-twins. It makes for a good weekend. They came up from Delaware and we had a great time. Making it extra super special was the fact that this was Anna and Robin's first time swimming!!! Kyle and Owen loved having another set of twins around. And Meera was thrilled with her new friends! Even more excitement around here with two sets of twins running us ragged! It was intense, but really good. The photo above is of the double twins in the baby pool. And here's Meera strutting her stuff after a long afternoon nap:
And here's the very large pitcher of sangria that we drank down after we got all five kiddos to bed:

Week 2 Was Much Better Than Week 1

Seriously, I have no idea why I continue to do "art" with these boys. I cannot tell you how much I wish my boys would be into it. But, seriously, they are so not into it. And yet still, I plod forward. They don't resist doing the stuff-- they actually like doing it once they're engaged (and it isn't hard to engage them). But they are just so not Artists. It is one of those things where you kinda just have to be there-- but take it from me: they are all about the mess, the experience of it all, and sooooo not about the actual art or outcome. Oh sure, yes, yes, yes, that's what it is all about: the means, not the end. Blah, blah, blah. I know, I know. But seriously, they have absolutely zero interest in fine-tuning their skills whatsoever. It is still 100% about the sensory experience, and 0% about the visual creation. They still cannot color in the lines -- and could not care any less. They still only rarely do anything but scribble -- and don't even try to make up any explanation for what they've "drawn." They'll choose their bikes over a craft any day of the week. And at birthday parties where a "craft project" is on the agenda (so far, always girls' parties), my boys run in the opposite direction as fast as the Birthday Girl's Mom pulls out the craft bin. Their arts and crafts projects look absolutely no different now, at age just barely 5, than they did when they were just barely 2. Seriously, they are just not the artsy-crafty types. I am hoping that I'll get that with Meera, because I'm losing hope that I'll ever have anything even remotely close with either of her brothers. Anyway... this morning during Meera's nap we got out paint (because I'm just that insane). Braydon always thinks I'm absolutely crazy for doing anything like this with them. And, as usual, it took me about 5 times as much time to clean it up as it did for them to do it. But man, did they enjoy it for the moment. And that was just one of the many moments that made Week 2 of Summer (2nd week that the boys have been out of school) soooo much better than Week 1.

Yes, I'll admit, I did break down and call Braydon at work today when I was very close to the edge of a nervous breakdown because they were making me looooooooooooose myyyyyyyyyyyyy miiiiiiiiiiiiiiind. But I am proud to say that I remained (relatively) calm, only yelled once (although, it was, I'll admit, at the top of my lungs), and did not cry at all (although I did come very, very close). But really, these boys are challenging. Imagine a roukus all-day-and-all-night party with your best friend in the world.... but with the energy turned up to a degree to which you cannot imagine (unless you know my boys) and the volume on max the entire time and the 5-year-old-good-and-bad just going-going-going to the nth degree. A constant non-stop back-and-forth ricochet of energy. Imagine that. That is, in a nutshell, life with Kyle and Owen. That can make a Mom go nuts pretty quick.

Luckily I have my Meera Grace to keep me grounded. That girl is soothing to frayed nerves. Seriously, she is so very very easy and mellow and happy and content. Like, all the time. Even when she's teathing. From what I can tell, she is loving having her brothers out of school. And she's loving blueberries right now too.

In addition to two very fun playdates (one yesterday, one today), we have had lots of time playing at home, a visit to the Frenchtown Playground, loads of baseball and bike-riding, some cooking, and, of course, lotsa smoothie making (and drinking):
Life is back on track around here, and we're a-o.k. as we head into the weekend.

The End of Formula

We've gradually been moving Meera to milk over the past month. And tonight we finished off our very last container of baby formula. It makes me want to weep. :(

1st Swimming Lesson of the Season

Calvin came for the 1st swimming lesson of the season today!

5 Year Check Up & Tylenol All Around

Today K & O had their 5-Year-Old Dr. Check Ups. I have posted about their amazing pediatrician before, and what a huge role she played in helping K & O to medically thrive in their first year home... so I won't go into detail here... but suffice it to say that, once again, Dr. Aleks' eyes were welled up with tears as she looked them over. More than once she looked at me, with her tears about to spill over, saying, "But Heather, do you remember?" All I can do is nod. Yes, I remember. The boys are so healthy now. But yes, we remember.

Here are the 5-Year-Old stats:
Kyle: 3'10'', 52 pounds, hovering over the 95th percentile for both height and weight
Owen: 3'11.5'', 50 pounds, 95th percentile for weight and way off the chart for height

They were amazingly good at the doctor's office (shockingly so). However, we had an extreme situation when Owen went berserk upon hearing that they each needed four shots (yes, four shots each). He went absolutely nuts when the army of nurses flooded the small examining room (yes, army-- four nurses; 2 nurses for each boy; 1 nurse for each arm; each nurse carrying 2 shots -- it really was quite dramatic). They were well-intentioned (thinking they'd swoop in, and quickly do the dirty deed, then swoop out). But it back-fired in a big way for Owen... who went crazy kicking and bucking and flailing his arms and crying hysterically and screaming "NO SHOTS! NO SHOTS! NO SHOTS! LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kyle, on the other hand, cool as a cucumber was "excited!" (his own quote) about it all and "couldn't wait for the shots!" He sat on Dr. Aleks lap still and stoic, watching closely while the nurses shot him up x4. This proved nothing to Owen. He watched, and then conversed with Kyle about it, and we thought we were in the clear, but then, just as the nurses began their approach, he resumed his fit of rage. He actually tried to bolt and I had to physically restrain him (which, let me tell you, is not easy to do). It was a bad scene. Trying to keep him in the room (and then, on my lap) was a major workout; I was breaking out in a serious sweat; and all the while I'm trying to calmly and gently tell him, "Owen, it is ok, I am here, shots help you stay healthy," etc. Finally we (me and Dr. Aleks) just had to hold him on my lap while the nurses did their thing. He didn't even know they had done the shots after they had. When I said, "It is all done baby, it is over." he looked up at me and said/screamed "GOOD! NO SHOTS! NO SHOTS!!!!!!" I said, "But you got the shots! They already did it. It is done now. I held you the whole time. It is over." And he was stunned and in awe that it "Oh?! It didn't even hurt." Within two seconds he was his normal, jovial self and Dr. Aleks told me she was "prescribing" me a "couple of drinks tonight!!!!" I think the whole entire office staff is probably having a couple of drinks tonight after the ordeal. But all is well that ends well. Owen then proceeded to go through the rest of the check up like the sweet little boy that he can be (when he's not causing a major scene). As we were leaving Kyle announced to Dr. Aleks that when he grows up he wants to be "a nurse! who gives shots!!!" Hmmmm....????? Anyway, I took it upon myself to reward them greatly for their shot-getting with treats of their choice on the ride home... First, frozen custard with rainbow sprinkles from Rita's (Owen's chocolate in a cone, of course; Kyle's vanilla in a cup, of course):
Then, pizza slices ("plain cheese!!") from Rocco's:
When we got home they had running races in the front yard while Meera practiced walking. The boys were complaining that their arms hurt where they had gotten the shots (no doubt!), so they got Tylenol before bed. And Little Miss is in the midst of sprouting a big 'ole molar (big, and just breaking through the surface of the gums), and is in serious pain... so she got Tylenol before bed too. Tylenol all around! and they're now sleeping soundly.